Straight out of the theatrical tradition, these were dramas performed live-to-tape under the constraints of what is now considered primitive studio TV production: they were shot by relatively huge and cumbersome television - not video - cameras, under harsh lights on a few standing sets. Yet the beauty of the dialog, the quality of the performances, and the rich detail of the costumes (copied, albeit cheaply, from portraits and other primary sources) combine to pull the viewer into another place and time, and keep us there, which is exactly what we want from a period piece.
Production values have long since advanced to the point where the television costume drama once rooted in the theater now takes its cues from motion pictures. Filmed on a basic-cable budget for AMC (a channel desperate for original "cinematic" programming that can complement and freshen the demo for its often dubious library of "classic" films), Mad Men is also working within certain limitations. By our 2007 standards it is doing a fine job. We enjoy playing spot-the-anachronism as much as the next viewer — even more, maybe, when a work tackles one of our favorite eras in aesthetics.
But when it comes to Mad Men, we agree to willingly suspend our disbelief. We have an inkling that the producers of Mad Men are telling a good story, we are predisposed to enjoy it, and we're determined not to let a few stray facts get in our way.
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1 - Josh Lasser
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